Public Land Solutions Support for Federal Coal Program Review

The hallmark of any successful policy is continuous evaluation and, if necessary, reform. The federal coal leasing program has not gone through a programmatic review in more than 30 years, and we applaud the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for pausing federal coal leases and taking this necessary step to ensure our public lands are managed appropriately. In particular we support reforms to the federal coal leasing program that ensure taxpayers receive a fair return for the sale of our public resources, and that efficient and targeted regulations protect today’s economy and reflect a current understanding of environmental and public health impacts from coal. As part of this initiative, we acknowledge that this pause in new coal leasing while the program is being reviewed allows for continued mining of coal under existing federal leases.

See our comment letter: Public Land Solutions Support for Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on the Federal Coal Program (PLS Coal PEIS Comment)